xx, 282 pages ; 24 cm

A sweeping story of the right to privacy as it sped along colonial postal routes, telegraph wires, and even today's fiber-optic cables, American Privacy traces the lineage of cultural norms and legal mandates that have swirled around the Fourth Amendment since its adoption. Legally, technologically, and historically grounded, Frederick Lane's book presents a vivid and penetrating exploration that, in the words of people's historian Howard Zinn, "challenges us to defend our most basic rights."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-270) and index

The declaration of privacy -- Postal politics, purity, and privacy -- Population, punch cards, and privacy -- Privacy in state courts and legislatures -- No more gentlemen : the rise of governmental espionage -- The peeping toms of public life -- The great red threats to privacy : credit cards and communism -- Privacy's golden hour : the Warren Court -- "Toward freedom from fear" : the privacy versus security debate intensifies -- The phantom delete key : the incredible durability of data -- No pc is an island : the rise of online communities -- Electronic exhibitionism and voyeurism : privacy in a webbed world

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